


Holy Water (Cannot Help You Now)

by petroltogo



Series: Genuinely Not Actually Bad Intentions (And The Road To Hell) [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Aka When Is Death Ever The End Where The Supernatural Is Involved, Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Because there has to be some angst, But he really means well, But think Supernatural-style, Character Death, Gen, Good Intentions Pave The Road To Hell, LITERALLY, Loki's definition of 'help' is kinda worrisome, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, a little darker, because Loki, demon loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-30 01:52:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15086447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petroltogo/pseuds/petroltogo
Summary: "It is said that there lies a terrible power in a demon’s pledge."Anthony Stark is not the first human to draw Loki's interest, but that does little to discourage his fascination. What the mortal wishes the most is something neither Heaven nor Hell have the power to grant, but Loki is nothing if not creative. Whether or not Anthony will appreciate his enthusiasm is of course another question altogether.





	Holy Water (Cannot Help You Now)

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: It should be noted that demons consider murder along the same lines as humans would, how do mortals put it - 'pulling pigtails'? That makes absolutely no sense. Leave the poor animals alone! What is wrong with you?!

Anthony Stark is not Loki’s first human. He isn’t even the first human, whose existence Loki appreciates – though there have not been many of those in recent decades. Not that personal preferences really matter. Much more important is what Anthony Stark really presents to Loki: a challenge.

As the demon of mischief, Loki thrives on discord and chaos. It’s one of the reasons why he feels at home on Earth in a way hell simply can’t be. The seven rings may drown in sin, may be filled with the screams and blood of the damned, but even in the most cursed of realms there is order and structure. Hierarchies to be respected, rules to be followed, traditions to be remembered.

Loki shudders just thinking about it. Hell is a great many of things, but it isn't chaos. Not the way Earth is, with humanity's short lifespans and curious drive to utilise their free will to the fullest. Earth is filled with possibilities and ever-changing fates in a way neither heaven nor hell can be - for they are the constant, the pillars on which Earth has been built, the ones that _remain_.

It is necessary, of course, for the universe to balance itself out. Which is why, rather than causing havoc in heaven - no matter how tempting - Loki finds himself drawn back to Earth time and again. Where the entertaining chaos he craves is so easily found and freely shared.

But while it’s fun to help out the devil worshippers and malicious bastards that usually summon him, it’s also rather straightforward. ‘ _Kill that guy.’ ‘Destroy that marriage.’ ‘Lay waste to every field south of our village_.’ And so on.

The thing is, Loki hates straightforward. And he especially hates boredom. 

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the ones who have accidentally stumbled across him, who have called out his name by coincidence or curiosity, or were simply close enough when their call reached him, have always been his favourites. Coincidences create the purest, most unpredictable waves, the kind that drive Loki to unmatched highs no worship has ever managed to achieve.

And Anthony Stark is neither straightforward, nor a worshipper. He is a challenge. A rare prize Loki has managed to take possession of before the others – or worse, those trice damned angels – could realise his true value.

Loki does not plan on giving him up any time soon.

Especially not when Anthony Stark presents him with such delightful requests. _No dead_ , the mortal demands. Followed by _And no one gets hurt_ , after Loki shares a particularly delightful vengeance ritual that fell out of practice a handful of centuries ago. _And absolutely no bloodshed_ , was added vehemently before Loki had the chance to share his next idea. It is endearing, really, how the Anthony Stark goes out of his way to make Loki's job harder. How he wishes for peace, for affection, for family, so deeply, even Loki, who by design doesn’t have much use for virtues, can feel it.

Amateurs might see these guidelines as restricting, possibly even grown frustrated with them. But Loki has always accomplished his greatest work when moving within the strictest of laws and given no more wiggle room than a weak insect, struggling uselessly in a fat spider’s web. The most devastating chaos, Loki knows, is bred by the loudest demand for order.

Still, Loki is neither blind nor stupid – has never been accused of either, despite the many crimes that can be laid at his feet.

He knows, with the sureness of a demon of the first ring, that Anthony Stark’s wishes would be best answered by an angel. 

Anthony Stark wishes for politicians to stop twisting the Accords into something they aren't supposed to be. He wishes for the fights in- and outside his inner sanctum to stop. He wishes for his team to remain strong and faithful, weather the storm together instead of letting it tear them apart. He wishes for trust, and open ears, and a way to safely reprogram a broken human’s brain. 

Like every mortal, Anthony Stark wishes for many things. 

Unlike many whom Loki has met in person, he does not voice his wishes. And when he does, it is in a mocking, derisive tone. A voice of of lost faith. Of a man who knows that what he asks for is not within the powers of heaven or hell to give, can only be given through the free will of his fellow humans. True love cannot be recreated. Genuine trust cannot be wished into existence.

Like all rules, no matter how necessary, the limitation leaves a bitter taste on Loki’s tongue, like stale tap water, and moulding bread, and thick walls that can not be overcome.

He shakes the faded notion off with a scowl. Focuses on giving Anthony Stark the help he has asked for, in any way he can. And despite the boundaries he has to adhere to - the wishes that are not in his power to grant - there are many things left to do that Loki is perfectly capable of. It doesn’t matter that he is no angel, that good deeds are not in his nature, because Loki is the demon of mischief. He is nothing if not adaptable.

Anthony Stark, delightfully, continues to be a challenge in every way imaginable. For one thing, he refuses to agree on any of Loki’s plans and ideas, no matter how reasonable and practical they are. That Loki’s suggestions have gotten more and more bloody, horrifying and ridiculous has surely nothing to do with it. For another, he is so focused on his virtuous wishes, the ones based on desires to help, to heal, to protect, that even Loki has trouble picking out the currents of vice that run beneath. 

He still does, of course. Loki isn’t some seventh ring weakling. Besides he has never bought into the new-age lectures about the parameters of the human soul. There is no such thing as a limit capacity to how much good and bad a human has within itself, nor do they balance each other out. That is, after all, the beauty of humanity: their affinity for vices and virtues alike. Their ability to do good or bad far eclipses what the purest of angels, the most rotten of demons are capable of. Angels are security and demons are risk, but humans are _potential_. 

In that manner at least, Anthony Stark is no exception. And oh, but his vices are a sight to see!

Anthony Stark is a great liar – a talent Loki very much appreciates – and to none does he lie as well as to himself. But Loki is a demon, and there is no hiding the traces of rage, deceit and hatred running underneath the purer emotions, like a motionless snake resting at ease under a blooming flower.

Oh, Anthony Stark may wish to save his team, but more than he will ever allow himself to acknowledge he wishes to  _destroy_ them.

Loki smiles.

He has sworn to honour the mortal’s plea for assistance, and as it has been given so will he honour his vow. But there is more than one way to sully an angel, as the saying goes. And the greatest of changes have never been brought by something evil, nor something good.

“If you can do anything, anything at all– I just want the team to make it through this. I want them to survive.” Anthony Stark says – begs, but Loki does the mortal the courtesy of not acknowledging his weakness. 

Yet Anthony Stark’s back remains ramrod straight through it all. Loki shrugs off an echoing ache in his shoulders.

“ _I want them to pay for hurting me and mine_ ,” Anthony Stark doesn’t say, doesn’t acknowledge, for all that his very soul trembles with the force of its desire.

“As you wish,” Loki accepts, the same words that have damned cities and brought entire kingdoms’ to their knees, have ended lives far more often than they saved them, falling effortlessly from his lips.

He does not think Anthony Stark truly understands the gravity of his vow. But then very few humans do. And how can they, really, when Loki himself does not yet now how far he will go to watch an acceptable ending play out?

As always, Loki will make this decision up as he goes along. 

But he has always favoured the lost. He has always favoured chaos and challenges.

*

They don’t have as much time as they think they do. Still, Loki enjoys the hours he spends in Anthony Stark's company. Twilight begins to lighten the world around them, cast long shadows over the planes of the world, but Loki has yet to tire of their conversation. Though the lines between off-handed joke and dead seriousness are blurred between them, there is a bitter sharpness to Anthony Stark that he enjoys, a unbridled curiosity that, if left free reign, could create so much chaos Loki finds himself dazed just envisioning it.

They do not talk about anything of consequence for the most part - and Loki can't tell whether the mortal doesn't realise that there is more to ask for, more details to demand about what Loki is able and unable to do to assist him, or whether he trusts Loki to simply fulfil his request, no further direction required- get lost in a discussion of demonic hierarchies instead, are sidetracked by the delight that is the portray of demons in different religions and which demon was responsible for which catastrophe and why blueberry pancakes will always trump chocolate ones. All in all, it is an enjoyable encounter, despite the rather abrupt ending.

An end that leaves Anthony Stark staring down at the phone in his trembling hands with lifeless eyes that would not be out of place on a dead body.

“I need to go,” is all he says before rushing off, following a cold trail leading to an even colder fate. 

He doesn’t stop to ask for Loki’s support, but then, he already has, hasn’t he? It would be rude, downright cruel even, to demand more humility from the proud mortal than he has already given.  

No, Loki will give the help he has offered. Because he has offered it. Because the vow has already been made.

And so Loki follows Anthony Stark. Observes from the shadows the clash of a group of humans that were never meant to become entangled with each other. Or perhaps they were. Human fate is a tricky thing to decipher.

Loki watches as one man spits vile insults in his mortal's face. Notes the self-depreciation, the jealousy, the blame fuelling his words. Takes in the wrath curling through the veins of a female filled to the brim with power, pride and destruction. Listens closely to the accusations of another, failing to cover the remains of trust and determination.

_I just want the team to make it through this. I want them to survive. I want them to pay for hurting me and mine._

Perhaps it is not meant to be. But that is the beauty of human potential; what not yet is, can still be brought to pass.

And so Loki watches, and he schemes.

(It is said that there lies a dreadful inevitability in an angel’s oath.)

(It is said that there lies a terrible power in a demon’s pledge.)

*

The Siberian cold does not bother Loki. The look on Anthony Stark’s face as he watches  ~~his parents’ murder~~  his friend’s betrayal does not either.

(There is a joke in there somewhere, about liars skilled enough to deceive even themselves, and Loki grits his teeth against the echo of his brother’s boisterous laughter.)

As the fight breaks out – not inevitable perhaps, but not undesirable either – Loki continues to observe dispassionately as a young king makes one choice and an old hero another.

There is no satisfaction in seeing humans break. But already the consequences of every cold word, every unrelenting hit are rippling through the world, the aftermath of a large stone that has been thrown into a tiny pond. Loki feels it under his skin, a tingling of too many changes and not enough time, of mistakes and spur-of-the-moment decisions. It is volatile and beautiful, and it lights the fire in his eyes like no immortal joy can do.

Loki’s fingers twitch when the arc reactor breaks, an instinctive urge to protect that is ultimately conquered by his desire to see these events unfold to their very end.

Who is he, after all, to bereft these mortals of their much-deserved lesson? 

It is long after the clatter of a shield hitting the ground has faded into nothingness, long after the other men have left to escape the persecutors that will not come, long after Anthony Stark has closed his eyes to succumb to a battle he is ill-equipped to win, that Loki finally slips out of the shadows. Approaches his mortal on light feet. Appraises with careful eyes the damage that can be healed – and the damage that can’t.

Of course, healing does not lie in Loki’s nature. Nor will it bring about the most preferable course of action.

If he is completely honest with himself, Loki knows that Anthony Stark would not approve of his plan. Would in fact outright reject it. It is the main reason he has not shared it with the human, has kept his mind busy with ludicrously far-fetched suggestions instead. 

But if there is one thing Loki has learned over the centuries, it is that hard-headed beings of any kind rarely change. And if they do, it is almost exclusively due to the pain their choices have brought them. Loki has always held a certain fondness for irony and just desserts. There is a bitterly sweetness to giving someone exactly what they oh so obnoxiously demand and watch as it tears them apart. 

Taking into a count all the possibilities offered to him, Loki makes the rational choice and does what needs to be done. Kneeling besides the mortal struggling for breath, but growing weaker by the moment, Loki reaches out a thin hand to gentle his mortal's soul through its passing onwards.

It is a breathtaking thing, bright and compact with a focus most souls lack, but despite his desire to hold on, cling, hide away, Loki makes no move to hinder its journey. He watches over the body of Anthony Stark for a while instead. Contemplating the consequences of his decision. Waits for the first waves to hit the coast, merciless and almighty.

He leaves long before a rescue team reaches the bunker, now abandoned of all life. There is no reason to stand watch over a broken body – like all masks, once shed, it is left behind.

 _I may have gone a little overboard_ , Loki considers in the privacy of his own mind as he steps into the shadows with a satisfied smile on his lips. But the chaos born out of the death of Anthony Stark had simply been too tempting to resist. Knowing the mortal's ultimate destination, as well as the fallout this death would bring down on the team, who’s lives remain safe as promised, this will – with a few helpful nudges along the way – accomplish everything Anthony Stark has and has not asked for.

Yes, perhaps inflicting the grief of killing a once close friend onto Rogers is a bit much, but then, Loki’s eagerness to go above and beyond his charge's imagination is hardly surprising, is it?

After all, Loki has always favoured the lost and the broken, the challenges – the souls destined for hell.

*

_For the first time in longer than he can remember, Tony is warm._

**Author's Note:**

> I realise this instalment reads a little on the angsty side, and I'm sorry about that. If it helps, the next one will earn its humour badge - because Tony and Loki and hell. Let's just say hell is not ready, to put it kindly. Loki has zero regrets. 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr: [tonystarktogo](http://tonystarktogo.tumblr.com/).


End file.
